The N.C. Supreme Court has turned down a request to review a decision favoring Lowe’s Motor Speedway in the pedestrian bridge collapse back in 2000.

Here’s why:

The appeals panel ruled that the lawsuits, filed in 2004, came too long after the bridge was constructed in September 1995. State law protects manufacturers from negligence lawsuits after six years under the premise that a product, such as a walking bridge, will eventually deteriorate and fail over time.

Six years? For a concrete bridge? That’s not very reassuring.